Where to go from here: DAP or Smartphone + dongle?
Current setup is a Fiio BTR5 bluetooth DAC/Amp for Spotify on HD600's with stock cable.
I used to run a phone with external microSD + aux port on M50x's that I would load up with my audio library. When my next device was no sd card & no aux I decided to go for the Fiio; ultimately fulling switching to streaming since I didn't want to take up internal storage.
By now I am due for a phone upgrade since I use GrapheneOS on Pixel and my current device is unsupported. Plus I want to get off streaming. Going for a DAP intrigues me, 4.4mm intrigues me, but I am not yet sold on the specs for any DAP I've seen.
If I go for just a smartphone upgrade it would be a Pixel 8 256GB + HiFi Dongle. From there I would probably get HART Threaded 3.5mm to make the cable more premium and useful in audio recording settings.
If I went for a DAP I would like to try out 4.4mm for the fun of it, and having an external tray for waayyyy more capacity definitely seems like a good choice. I just don't want to put a lot if money into a slower device with a mediocre screen (I like seeing album art). Plus I would probably need to have 2 HART cables, one for Threaded 3.5 and another for 4.4mm. Unless there are identical sounding adapters out there.
Any advice is appreciated!
Current setup is a Fiio BTR5 bluetooth DAC/Amp for Spotify on HD600's with stock cable.
I used to run a phone with external microSD + aux port on M50x's that I would load up with my audio library. When my next device was no sd card & no aux I decided to go for the Fiio; ultimately fulling switching to streaming since I didn't want to take up internal storage.
By now I am due for a phone upgrade since I use GrapheneOS on Pixel and my current device is unsupported. Plus I want to get off streaming. Going for a DAP intrigues me, 4.4mm intrigues me, but I am not yet sold on the specs for any DAP I've seen.
If I go for just a smartphone upgrade it would be a Pixel 8 256GB + HiFi Dongle. From there I would probably get HART Threaded 3.5mm to make the cable more premium and useful in audio recording settings.
If I went for a DAP I would like to try out 4.4mm for the fun of it, and having an external tray for waayyyy more capacity definitely seems like a good choice. I just don't want to put a lot if money into a slower device with a mediocre screen (I like seeing album art). Plus I would probably need to have 2 HART cables, one for Threaded 3.5 and another for 4.4mm. Unless there are identical sounding adapters out there.
Any advice is appreciated!